Privacy Policy

Please read this carefully

Before using the Website (that is, any website operated by Munster Express Limited, its holding or any Group company) it is your responsibility to read this Privacy Policy. You can notify us in the manner set out below if you do not want us to share information about you with third parties.

Munster Express Limited (together with its holding, group and associated companies where relevant), is hereinafter referred to as MEL.

The basic principles

By accessing and using the Website you are agreeing to be legally bound by the Terms & Conditions and this Privacy Policy. You should therefore also read the Terms & Conditions before using the Website.

MEL is determined to protect your privacy. It is very important to us that you should be able to use and enjoy the Website without having to compromise your privacy unacceptably.

Knowing something about our users is, however, necessary to ensure that our service is continually improved. We need to build an accurate picture of the needs and wishes of our users and to be able to communicate with you. That enables us to offer a service that is relevant and truly interactive, which is what our users expect. It also helps us to maintain the greatest possible free-to-user access to the Website.

We answer your important questions

“What information do you collect about me?”

We automatically collect some data about our users’ browsing actions and patterns. This is aggregate data and does not identify any individual.

We may also ask you to provide personal information on a voluntary basis in order to get a clearer picture of our users. It is then entirely up to you whether you give us this information.

In the course of entering competitions, promotions and other offers you will be asked to give some details about yourself. You may also choose to e-mail us or make contact with us in other ways. Such contact gives us information about you.

If you have any financial dealings or make purchases with our trading partners on co-branded sites, they will ask for certain information. This information may be shared with us.

“For what purposes do you collect and use this information?”

We use aggregate audience details (where no individual is identifiable) to help us improve our understanding of our users and their preferences. We use it to assist us in arranging relevant advertising, commercial opportunities and competitions, as well as ensuring the best editorial coverage. It also helps us develop the Website and audit its use.

The information about you as an identifiable individual, including contact details, may be used in the following ways:

* to conduct market research and other surveys.

* to create and draw to your attention to editorial material and commercial opportunities that may be of interest to you.

* to be shared with advertisers, trading partners and other commercial entities with whom we have or might have an association. We may also be able to share the information that they obtain about their users, which may include you.

“How private are my details?”

Apart from other companies in the MEL group, we only share personal information about you with third parties whom we have selected carefully and with whom we have, or may have, a commercial relationship. MEL complies with the relevant legal requirements and takes all reasonable care to ensure that your information is secure and private and is only seen by us and these third parties. However we cannot be held responsible for the actions of any third party who receives or obtains access to the information, or for any breach of security.

If you tell us that you do not want us to use your details, then data about your use of the Website would only form part of aggregated statistics and would not be related to you as an individual.

You can ask to see the information we have about you by e-mailing a request to info@munster-express.ie

“What do I do if I am not happy for you to share information about me with others?”

You may not wish us to share personal details about you with third parties outside the MEL group, or to use your information in the other ways we have described in this Privacy Policy. You can e-mail info@munster-express.ie at any time to let us know of any objections you may have to how we use or disclose your data in the ways set out in this Privacy Policy. Your personal details may in any event be shared with third party organisations we have contracted to provide services to us, on an agency basis, which may include processing data. We may also have to release information (which could include the contents of e-mail communications between any persons) because of a legal requirement on us or pursuant to a court order.

Use of cookies on a website

A cookie is a text-only string of information that a website transfers to the cookie file of the browser of your computer’s hard disk so that the website can remember who you are. A cookie will typically contain the name of the domain from which the cookie has come, the “lifetime” of the cookie and a value, usually a randomly generated unique number.

Two types of cookies are used on the Website: Session Cookies which are temporary cookies that remain in the cookie file of your browser until you leave the Website. Persistent Cookies which remain in the cookie file of your browser for much longer (though how long will depend on the lifetime of each specific cookie). Cookies can help a website to arrange content to match your preferred interests more quickly. Most major websites use cookies. Cookies cannot be used by themselves to identify you.

How we collect cookies on the Website and what information we collect

Session Cookies: To allow you to carry information across pages of the Website and avoid having to re-enter information. Persistent Cookies: To help us recognise you as a unique visitor (just a number) when you return to the Website and to allow us to tailor content, advertisements and the presentation of the Website to match your preferences. To compile anonymous, aggregated statistics that allow us to understand how users use the Website and to help us improve the structure of the Website. We cannot identify you personally in this way.

Third Party Cookies

Third parties serve cookies via the Website. These are used for the following purposes: To serve advertisements on the Website and track whether these advertisements are clicked on by users. To control how often you are shown a particular advertisement. To count the number of anonymous users of the Website. To provide security within transactions.

Use of Web Beacons

Some of our web pages may contain electronic images know as web beacons (sometimes know as clear gifs) that allow us to count users who have visited these pages. Web beacons collect only limited information which include a cookie number, time and date of a page view, and a description of the page on which the web beacon resides. We may also carry web beacons placed by third party advertisers. These beacons do not carry any personally identifiable information and are only used to track the effectiveness of a particular campaign.

Disabling/Enabling Cookies

You have the ability to accept or decline cookies by modifying the settings in your browser. However, you may not be able to use all the interactive features of the Website if cookies are disabled.

International transfer of personal data

As you will know, the internet does not recognise national boundaries. Services on the net are accessible globally so collection and transmission of personal data is not always confined to one country. You should be aware that by using the Website and those of our partners or any site we link through to, your personal data may be processed in or transferred to other countries, the USA for example, and you agree to your personal data being transferred or processed in this way.

The Munster Express iPhone Application

When you launch or interact with The Munster Express iPhone application, we collect your device type and IP address. This information is gathered for all users. In addition, we use the unique Device ID (”UUID”) that Apple makes available for each iPhone/iPod touch device. This UUID functions similarly to a persistent cookie. These details will not be shared with 3rd parties without your prior consent.

Further information

If you want further information, or wish to communicate with us about this Privacy Policy and your wishes about your personal information, please e-mail us at info@munster-express.ie.

Company and data protection information

The data controller of data on the Website is Munster Express Limited is a company registered in Ireland, whose office is at 37 The Quay, Waterford, 051-872141.